Just recently arriving into the Tampa Bay market, we are blessed with two new Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. beers. Regular old Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a great fall back ale which is readily available all over the country. It tops my list as favorite beers of all time.

However, it is always nice to try new things. So, here is what we have:

1. Harvest Fresh Hop Ale

Originally brewed in 1986, Harvest Fresh Ale has only been available on draft . . . Until now! For a limited time, Sierra Nevada is bottling this goodness and making it available to consumers across the country.

Eleven years ago, Sierra Nevada was the first American brewer to experiment with “fresh hops” when brewing their first batch of Harvest Ale, using nothing but hops that had been harvested in Yakima, Washington the same day. Freshly harvested hops are richer in the hop oils that impart hop aroma and spiciness into beer.

I picked up a few of the 24 ounce bottles the other night for sampling. Truthfully, I was expecting more hops. I think that the malts and spiciness from the wet hops offsets it a bit.

Overall, this is an excellent beer that I recommend trying at least once.

I saw these guys on the store shelf a couple of weeks ago and got very excited! This was the first new beer from Sierra Nevada that I had seen available in our market in quite some time. In celebration of 27 years of brewing, SN decided to bottle this American style IPA and make it available to the public.

While I love everything that comes out of Sierra Nevada, this one didn’t quite do it for me. By all means, I am not saying that it was bad, but I would rather drink their Pale Ale instead. With that said, congratulations ARE in order for over 27th years of Sierra Nevada brewing some very fine beverages.

UPADATE: I feel that I made some false, and possibly mis-leading statements about the Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale. Last night, I tried the beer again. I’m not quite sure what I was thinking the first time, but I have to change my opinion on this beer. Based on last nights tasting, the anniversary ale can be considered some delicious nectar – bursting with hops flavor and aroma. I’m not quite sure what turned me off the first time. Perhaps it was too warm – or I am was just not in the mood for an IPA at the time. Either way, don’t let my previous statements turn you off to this beer.

This entry was posted
on Saturday, October 20th, 2007 at 4:27 pm and is filed under Beer Reviews.
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